Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) is pleased to announce that Widi Pangestu Sugiono (b. 1993, Indonesia) has been selected as the inaugural artist for the Residency @ Blue Art Center, a collaboration between Richard Koh Fine Art and the Blue Art Center.
1 April – 27 June 2023
The Blue Art Center, Siem Reap, Cambodia (April)
Natee Utarit’s Studio, Bangkok, Thailand (May)
The Private Museum, Singapore (June)
The residency program is designed to support emerging artists from Southeast Asia, offering them the necessary tools and resources to develop and enhance their artistic practice and career. The selected artist will have the opportunity to explore different facets of the art industry across three cities in Southeast Asia.
For this cycle of the residency program, in partnership with Blue Art Center (Siem Reap, Cambodia), we have also collaborated with artist Natee Utarit (Bangkok, Thailand) and The Private Museum (Singapore) to host the artist Widi at an art school, an artist studio, and an art institution, respectively. The artist will undergo an immersive one-month program at each location.
Photo courtesy of Widi Pangestu
About Widi Pangestu
Widi Pangestu Sugiono (b.1993,Bandung, Indonesia) specializes in creating abstract three-dimensional works using paper as his primary medium. His sculptures, crafted using traditional paper-making techniques, showcase the material’s textures and are renowned for their simplicity and precision. For Widi, each handmade piece of paper represents a dialogue between humans and nature, serving as both documentation and physical evidence of this interaction.
With several solo exhibitions under his belt, including “Making Sense of Sense-Making” at Ace House (2021) and “Everything In Between” at Indonesia Contemporary Art Network (ICAN) (2017), and participation in group exhibitions like “Beyond Painting” at Mizuma Gallery Singapore (2022) and “Formless” at Semarang Gallery (2022), he was also a finalist in the 39th UOB Painting of the Year Professional category in 2019.
Widi is currently based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Photo courtesy of Blue Art Center
About Blue Art Center
Blue Art Centre (BAC) Project was conceptualized in 2011 by acclaimed Cambodian visual artist; Svay Sareth with the primary mission of providing life development to underprivilege Cambodian children through arts education and vocational training, enabling them an opportunity to mould their own future. Through the school’s model of liberal art pedagogy and its commitment to the excitement of learning, BAC aims to produce the next generation of Cambodian students who are both socially and environmentally conscious of their lived and built surroundings. BAC’s secondary mission is to be an incubator for contemporary art in Cambodia, connecting local artists to the current international discourses through its infrastructure, residency programmes and personnel network.
Photo courtesy of Natee Utarit
About Natee Utarit
Natee Utarit (b.1970, Bangkok, Thailand) studied at the College of Fine Art in 1987 and graduated in Graphic Arts at the Painting and Sculpture Faculty at Silpakorn University, both in Bangkok, Thailand in 1991. Solo exhibitions include Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces, The Private Museum, Singapore (2018), Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia (2017), Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces, Ayala Museum, Manila, the Philippines (2017), Illustration of the Crisis, Bangkok University Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand (2013), After Painting, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2010) and The Amusement of Dreams, Hope and Perfection, Art Center of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (2007). Recent group exhibitions include Beyond Bliss, Bangkok Art Biennale 2018, Bangkok, Thailand (2018), Contemporary Chaos, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2018), Thai Eye, BACC, Bangkok, Thailand and Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2016/2015), Art of ASEAN, Bank Negara Museum and Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2015), Time of Others, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (2015) and Asian Art Biennale 2013: Everyday Life, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan (2013).
His work is part of many renowned collections, such as the Bangkok University, Bangkok, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, as well as private collections in Europe and Asia.
Utarit’s multifaceted practice focuses on the exploration of the medium of painting connecting it with photography and classical Western art. Light and perspective are some of the elements the artist chose to work with, focusing on painting as a means to explore image making. His complex pictures, juggling wide-ranging metaphors usually in the format of the traditional still life, allude to Thailand’s current social and political landscapes.
Photo courtesy of the Intercultural Theatre Institute
About The Private Museum
The Private Museum is a non-profit private museum in Singapore founded by Singaporean philanthropist, art collector and real estate developer, Daniel Teo, together with his daughter Rachel Teo in 2010. Fuelled by passionate patronage for the arts, the museum aims to be an alternative platform to bridge the gap between the private and the public. It supports the exchange of ideas across cultures, educational initiatives, and artistic and curatorial collaborations with collectors and practitioners of the arts.
With a vision to promote art appreciation, the independent art space engages local, regional and international audiences from all walks of life.
Widi Pangestu Sugiono; The First Recipient of the Artist Residency Program RKFA X Blue Art Center
1 April - 27 June 2023
The Blue Art Center, Siem Reap, Cambodia (April)
Natee Utarit's Studio, Bangkok, Thailand (May)
The Private Museum, Singapore (June)